Laminate timber flooring over exsisting slate

Hi everyone,

I've struck a dilema with a home reno, up until now I've done everything myself or atleast had a damn good try. But now I'm in a big rut, we want to install laminate timber flooring thats the easy part, the hard part and the part that is stressing me out is the 36m2 of slate floor we already have which has to come up first. Heres my ideas No1. jack hammer out slate, level off with level floor and simply lay the new flooring. ( problem 50 hours on the jack hammer! No2. simply pour level floor directly over the slate and lay the laminate over that. ( problem, will the have to pack up the lounge room and bedroom floors to get the carpet and the laminate to meet at the same height, which doesnt bother me as i reckon 19mm yellow tongue under the carpet onto the slab would be just about perfect. Can anyone think of the best or better ways? hopefully I've explained what i want to do correctly. thanks guys

Advertisement

Laminate timber flooring over exsisting slate

I'm going to advocate removal of the slate. That is the right way to do it, unfortunately.

Your second best option is pouring over the tile.

The good news is that slate is very soft, and you'll probably be shocked how quickly it comes up. I'd suggest renting a 35# demolition hammer (mini jackhammer) and using a 3" wide chisel on it. They're small enough so using them isn't miserable. Instead of going at it from a perpindicular approach, go at it at a steep angle, like you're trying to pry the tiles up. You can do the whole job sitting on your butt! They'll break, but concentrate on breaking the bond between the tile and the thinset.

Laminate timber flooring over exsisting slate

Laminate timber flooring over exsisting slate

Thanks,

yeh the jackhammer does seem to be the sensible approach and if im going to do it I might as well do it properly. So now you may be able to help me out some more in regards to using level floor, from what i understand the idea is to find the highest and the lowest points of the surface thats left ( after a day on the jackhammer ) , and start pouring at the lowest point until it reaches the highest point? Any pointers or tricks would be great. Once again thanks for your advice.

Laminate timber flooring over exsisting slate

Laminate timber flooring over exsisting slate

Quote:

Originally Posted by scott10

Thanks,

yeh the jackhammer does seem to be the sensible approach and if im going to do it I might as well do it properly. So now you may be able to help me out some more in regards to using level floor, from what i understand the idea is to find the highest and the lowest points of the surface thats left ( after a day on the jackhammer ) , and start pouring at the lowest point until it reaches the highest point? Any pointers or tricks would be great. Once again thanks for your advice.

I'd see how the removal of the tile and thinset goes before committing to leveling the floor. See how out of level it is. You can use a laser level, or more conventional methods. Based on how much material you'll need, you can buy it in bags and mix it yourself or contact a concrete plant and see what they offer for self-leveling flowable mixes.